Mary Ann Hurst - Wishing On A Star

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:52
Size: 101,9 MB
Art: Front

(3:23)  1. Pete Kelly's Blues (Up/Swing)
(4:45)  2. Soon It's Gonna Rain
(3:48)  3. Skylark
(5:11)  4. A Taste Of Honey
(3:31)  5. People Get Ready
(5:11)  6. You Must Believe In Spring
(2:45)  7. When You Wish Upon A Star
(4:11)  8. Ain't No Sunshine
(3:19)  9. Surrey With The Fringe On Top
(3:20) 10. 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
(4:23) 11. Pete Kelly's Blues (Ballad Version)

Although billed as a trio effort, this album is a showcase for singer Mary Ann Hurst. Her previous track record includes the rather dauntingly-titled Chinese Folksongs In A Jazz Mode from 2000. There's nothing quite as exotic here, simply a well-wrought session that begins with more than a touch of the cool female vocalists of the 1950s. Even the opening track, "Pete Kelly's Blues," is pure jazz nostalgia, taken from the soundtrack of the Jack Webb film. Hurst's trio is not your usual piano/bass/drums unit but a combination of voice with acoustic guitar and percussion, giving this album a decidedly intimate patina. Mary Ann Hurst deivers many of the tunes in ballad tempo, raising the tempo on others to provide contrast to such titles as "Skylark," "When You Wish Upon A Star," and "You Must Believe in Spring." "Soon It's Gonna Rain," "A Taste of Honey," with a Latin pulse from Gilad, and a mid-tempo "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" all work to provide a well-mixed set. A few of these songs, like Paul Simon's "Feelin' Groovy" and Bill Wither's "Ain't No Sunshine," seem to be in need of temporary retirement. Let us respect the value of percussionist Gilad and especially guitarist/arranger Freddie Bryant on this album. Bryant is a wonder, either strumming on the up-tempo songs or providing sensitive playing and solo work on the majority. The tongue-in-groove fit of his playing and Hurst's smoky vocals place this album on a special shelf. ~ Michael P.Gladstone https://www.allaboutjazz.com/wishing-on-a-star-mary-ann-hurst-love-bug-review-by-michael-p-gladstone.php

Personnel: Mary Ann Hurst: vocals; Freddie Bryant: guitar; Gilad: percussion.

Wishing On A Star

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Mary Ann Hurst - Chinese Folksongs In A Jazz Mode

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:38
Size: 131,0 MB
Art: Front

(5:22)  1. North Wind Blows
(5:28)  2. Nanniwan
(4:56)  3. Crescent Moon Rising
(4:58)  4. Swallow
(4:56)  5. Yi Meng Mountain
(4:38)  6. Sanshilipu Village
(7:03)  7. Embroidered Pouch
(7:31)  8. Kangding Village Lovesong
(7:44)  9. Little Cabbage
(3:58) 10. Herdsman Song

This is a great easy-listening CD - the vocals are done in soft-spoken Mandarin and English - and the backing Jazz Band (Small World & Friends) is as classy as they come. A Great Listen for World Music lovers! Realizing a 15-year dream, vocalist Mary Ann Hurst translated traditional Chinese folksongs into English and performs them in the jazz idiom, singing in both Mandarin and English. Liner notes and lyrics are in English, to include lyrics in Chinese characters and the romanization system, Pinyin. Ten traditional Chinese melodies were chosen for their intrinsically lovely melody lines. Instrumental back-up is by top jazz musicians who perfectly interpret the spirit of the project.  https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/mah
Reviews:
“A delight to the ears, thanks to incomparable jazz vocalist Mary Ann Hurst and an exclusive ensemble of Texas-based musicians. Hurst beautifully interprets thematic folks songs through the universal language of melodious instrumentation, chiming in with her flawless Mandarin…a very unique and unorthodox amalgamation of genres. ~ San Antonio Current

"Hurst's voice glides from English to Chinese with a buttery smoothness...belies her years of commitment to both the jazz idiom and the Mandarin tongue" ~ A.P. writer Alexa Olesen

“Highly recommended as a musical experience, and a good way to expand your knowledge of Mandarin Chinese!” ~ Amazon.com

“Your surprising yet fantastic CD [is] indeed a jewel. There are strong elements of light jazz and also poetic reminiscence of Chinese mentality. Anyone with some jazz background will appreciate this album effortlessly. The whole project conveys an artful rendition of your unique understanding of jazz a well as Chinese folk music…a well-blended version of our modern longing to reach out to our roots and to express simple beauty in our common humanity. The jazz motif is a wonderful format for your love of Chinese culture.” ~ C.C. Wang, Metropolitan Museum of Art collector and artist

“A one-of-a-kind record. Mary Ann Hurst lived in China long enough to know deeply the language and the music… a very musical voice, the feeling she gives to these songs is unique…[this is] truly world music.” ~ Francesco Martinelli, Pisa, Italy

Chinese Folksongs In A Jazz Mode

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Mary Ann Hurst - Born Under A Wand'rin' Star

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:00
Size: 115,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:07)  1. It Might As Well Be Spring
(5:17)  2. Let There Be Love
(4:22)  3. Wade In The Water
(4:39)  4. I've Never Been In Love
(4:54)  5. They Can't Take That Away From Me
(3:13)  6. Carolina In The Morning
(3:37)  7. The Things We Did Last Summer
(3:08)  8. Cow Cow Boogie
(3:09)  9. Wanderin' Star
(3:20) 10. I Talk To The Trees
(3:53) 11. A Beautiful Friendship
(4:16) 12. My Romance

Born Under A Wand'rin' Star is jazz vocalist Mary Ann Hurst's third go-around and she remains a star waiting to be discovered. The constants that are evident in all her efforts are a quality presentation of the Great American Songbook and her always being surrounded by fine musicians. Hurst opens Born Under A Wand'rin' Star with a polite samba version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "It Might As Well Be Spring," assisted by the nimble and simpatico Rick Stone on guitar. Frank Loesser's "I've Never Been In Love Before" is taken at a nice, relaxed mid-tempo pace, as is the shopworn Gershwin classic "They Can't Take That Away From Me," with pianist Dick Goodwin providing the winning solos. The material gets even better on the second half of the album. A charming medley of Kahn/Donaldson classic, "Carolina in the Morning," segues into the Disney musical hit "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the 1946 film The Song of the South, making it a thematic fit, though the old Carolina Rice jingle (..."I come from Carolina, so pardon my drawl...") wouldn't have been turned down. The Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne oldie, "The Things We Did Last Summer," has been pretty well dissected by femme vocalists, but Hurst's version is right up there with early Nancy Wilson's on pianist George Shearing's The Swingin's Mutual (Capitol, 1961).The revival of the Ella Mae Morse-associated "Cow Cow Boogie" also dusts off another forgotten tune, with Hurst joined by Goodwin, who scats and picks up a trumpet for this number. 

Hurst borrows two songs from the Lerner & Loewe score to the 1969 film Paint Your Wagon, including the relatively untouched title tune (sung by Clint Eastwood in the film) and "I Talk to the Trees."Born Under A Wand'rin' Star is yet another fine package by this unappreciated vocalist and her well matched combo. ~ Michael P.Gladstone https://www.allaboutjazz.com/born-under-a-wandrin-star-mary-ann-hurst-self-produced-review-by-michael-p-gladstone.ph
 

Personnel: Mary Ann Hurst: vocals; Rick Stone: guitar; Dick Goodwin: piano, trumpet, scat; Reggie Sullivan: bass; Jim Hall: drums.

Born Under A Wand'rin' Star

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Mary Ann Hurst - Jazzz...d

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:18
Size: 119.7 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[5:30] 1. In My Own Little Corner
[5:38] 2. I Can't Say No
[4:44] 3. Lush Life
[4:16] 4. Some Cats Know
[2:48] 5. Slow Boat To China
[5:16] 6. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
[4:15] 7. My Head's Ok But Heart's Not Smart
[6:52] 8. Some Other Time
[3:30] 9. Call Me
[3:40] 10. Hit The Road Jack, Why Don't You Do Right
[5:44] 11. Time After, You Make Me Feel So Young

I was born in Long Island, New York on an Air Force base and have been mobile ever since. “Home” was many places growing up: Japan, Germany, Thailand, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska and later on my own in California, Minnesota, Texas, Massachusetts, South Carolina and China. My first encounters with the jazz idiom came from my father’s record collection: Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Jackie Gleason, Louis Armstrong, Sophie Tucker. Highlights of my jazz education include seeing Ellington perform under the stars, seaside, in a bandshell, along with French sophisticates in Marseilles, France; watching Ella perform in San Francisco and Minneapolis; at age 9 sitting front-row to hear Louis Armstrong sing; taking workshops with Sheila Jordan and Kurt Elling; and having the opportunity to perform with great musicians like Tuna Otenel in Turkey, to Bucky Pizzarelli in South Carolina. I started singing at age 7 on in choirs, musical theater, symphony choruses and in jazz settings -- duos, trios, quartets, quintets, and once in a while big bands -- all the while working at various other jobs in life...

My life veered toward China when the opportunity to be a Chinese Mandarin linguist in the army reserves presented itself. After the army sent me to language school (basic training and radio operation school first!) I had the opportunity to study in China from 1981-82 in Shanxi, Taiyuan as a graduate exchange student from the University of South Carolina. Then graduate school at the University of Minnesota brought me an M.A. in East Asian Studies and a summer job as a tour guide in China, and the chance to work at China’s most prestigious art academy in Zhejiang Province in the beautiful city of Hangzhou. It was at this art academy I came to fully appreciate the arts of China, from calligraphy to landscape painting. I took a year at Harvard to study Classical Chinese, then worked for a non-profit study abroad consortium taking students to study Chinese at Beijing University. I later helped SBC, Inc (now AT&T) open an office in Beijing. I lived corporate, non-profit, and student lives in China - all diverse, but interesting experiences in a country now making headlines on a daily basis. Jazz in Beijing was just getting going in the 90s. I sang with a Chinese-Japanese quintet there called Beijing Jazz for six months in the Foreign Correspondents Club overlooking the city of 12 million. We jammed with ambassadors and businessmen from around the world. Sometimes Cui Jian, China’s rock star, would come in to play his horn. He sounded a lot like Miles Davis at times. On my last return from China I decided to take the folksongs I’d collected there and turn them into a jazz project. It’s a unique offering of East-West fusion, easy on the ears, very listenable.

Jazzz...d

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